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(No Mfidel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. LIVINGSTONB. DOOR KNOB AND CONNECTING SHANK FOR THE SAME. No. 380,383. PatgntedApnS, 1888.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- W. LIVINGSTONE. y DOOR KNOB AND CONNECTING SHANE FOR THE SAME.

No. 380,333, Patented Apr. 3, 1888.

J12 venior UNiTnD STATES rricao PATENT DOOR-KNOB AND CONNECTING SHANK FOR THE SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,333, dated April 3, 1888.

Application filed July 15, 1887. Serial No. 244,388. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Knobs and Connecting-Shanks for the Same; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as .will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in door -knobs and connectingshanks for the same.

Heretofore door-knobs have been made by casting them of metal, either hollow or solid, and afterward finishing them in any style desired. Knobs have also been made from sheet metal by stamping, spinning, or otherwise forming a thin shell, which was rendered substantial by the attachment of this outer shell to a heavier interior supporting-knob made of a cheaper substance. Cheap materialhas also been employed for door-knobs, composed of porcelain or other plastic compound that is vitrified by heat. Such knobs have a metal socket-piece inserted and secured by cement or lead.

In all the different styles of knobs mentioned,

- the shank or spindle by which they are held in connection with the mechanism of the lock or latch is made of solid metal, which spindle is secured to the knob by set-screws inserted through the socket ends of the knobs to enter perforations in the spindle or bear upon it. Unless expensive hand-fitting is applied in the construction of knobs so constructed they will soon become loose, and are a constant source of vexation on account of the loose fit of the spindle, which has a tendency to wabble in the sockets of the knobs and loosen the set-screws, which latter are often lost, thus rendering the knob latch or look worthless.

The object of my present invention is toprovide a cheap, durable, and light spindle and socket connection for a door-knob that willnot become loose by continued use and that will permit an adjustment of one of the knobs upon the spindle to accommodate different thicknesses of doors or looks, as may be required, the frame of the other knob being made integral or of the same piece of metal as the spindle.

A further object is to construct a spindle of a doorknob from sheet metal, the blank being cut at one operation and afterward formed by dies into a square spindle, which is hollow and extremely light, as well as strong.

A further object is to produce a skeleton frame for the grip portion of a door-knob and its socket portion from sheet metal cut in one piece by dies from the thin metallic plate, and afterward formed into shape, to provide a cheap as well as durable and perfectlyfitting socket-piece and integral knob-frame.

A further object is to provide a skeleton frame for a door-knob that will be arched in a manner to resist torsional strains, and also be readily attached to an outer shell which forms the knob proper, and thus afford a means of producing alight, strong, and durable metallic door-knob that may be made as ornamental as desired by employing dies to impress chased elaborate designs upon the outer shell of these door-knobs.

With these objects in view my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, that will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents asheetmetal blank struck from a thin plate for the production of a knob-spindle by subsequent formation in proper dies, the knob-frame being cut integrally from the same piece of metal. Fig. 2 shows the spindle blank formed into shape and the knob-frame also. Fig. 3 is a flat sheet-metal blank for a knob-frame and socketpiece,which is formed integral therewith. Fig. 4 represents the knob-frame and its integral socket shaped properly from the blank shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are end views of the knob-frames shown, respectively, in Figs. 1 and 4. Fig. 9 is a side view ofa lock-spindle with its skeleton knob-frames shown in sec tion in the portion lying below its axial line, while the upper half-sections of the knob show the outer shells in position on the skeleton frames of the knobs. Figs. 10 and 11 show a modified form of spindle and its integral knobgral spindle and frame with an adjustable skeleton-frame for a mated door-knob mounted on the opposite end of the spindle, the knobs being differently formed from those previously shown. Fig. .14 represents half-shells of sheet metal to form complete knobs in connection with the half-shells shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 15 shows a form of integral knob frame and spindle, in which a hemispherical shell is secured to pieces of the frame to producea half-shell on the outside of the knob,which may be completed by other half-shells applied to join these integral half-shells edge to edge. Fig. 16 represents a sectional view oftwo skeleton knobframes mounted upon a hollow or solid spindle. The blank shown in F5 g. 1 consists of a piece ofsheet metal, A,stamped into rectangular form and provided with four prongs 01' fingers, a, that are produced by cutting three parallel slits in the material at one end of the blank A. The prongs a are of proper length to afford a skeleton knob-frame of proper diameter when these prongs are bent into shape, as shown in Fig. 2. By constructing the integral skeleton knob-frame in this manner the outer ends of the prongs a are bent into hooks that are inserted into a square hole made in the washer b and afterward clinched upon this washer, so as tolock the whole of the prongs to the washer, and thus produce a substantial connection of parts. The prongs a at their free ends are bent slightly inward to afford a proper seat for the washer b, and by the contact of the edge of the washer with the offset shoulder thus produced on each prong adjacent to this edge the arched prongs are prevented from being pressed inwardly, so that a solid lock and durable structure are thus afforded. The shank or spindle A is bent at right angles, the corners of the square spindle thus produced being determined by the slits that form the prongs a, the corners of the square spindle being longitudinally extended in right lines with these slits.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the blank A is made of sheet metal and is slotted in the same manner as the end of the blank Ato afford four prongs for an adjustable knob, the prongs a being bent to form four equidistant arched pieces, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6.

It will be seen on comparison of Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 that the size of the square hole in the washer b (shown in Fig. 6) and the width of the prongs a are so proportioned as to produce a socket-piece, A, of proper size to neatly slide upon the outer surface of the spindleA (shown in Fig. 7) and be secured thereon by a means that will presently be indicated.

In Fig. 9 the skeleton frames of the knobs just described are shown in position, one integral with and the other mounted upon the spindle A. In the upper portion of the view given in this figure the outer surfaces of sheet metal envelopes or knob-shells B B are shown mounted on the skeleton frames, and in the lower half of said figure a sectional view is given of the knobs with the sheet-metal shells secured to the frames of the knobs.

The outer shells, B B, may be made of any desired sheet-metal material, but preferably of sheet brass or bronze. They are cut out into blanks and raised into half-shells by dies, or they may be spun into shape. The edges that are to be joined to produce completed shells are formed into corresponding grooved looks that may be set together by any proper tool. The spindle-socket c of the knob-shell B is fitted with a sleeve, 0, of cast metal,wh1ch is ,provided with an angular opening that closely embraces the outer face of socket-piece A, and the shell B is provided with a socket, 0 carrying sleeve c,which latter has an openingconforming in shape and size to the crosssection of the spindle A.

In Fig. 11 a modified form of the hollow sheet-metal spindle is shown. In this form of construction the spindle is made of two blanks that are joined by looks or catches stamped on the edges of the same, each half of the spindle being furnished with prongs which are adapted to be bent into form to produce, when the spindle-sections are joined, a skeleton frame for a knob that will give as good results as that previously described. The blank from which this style of spindle is constructed is shown in Fig. 12.

In Fig. 13 the skeleton knob-frames are shown with a re-enforce half-shell of sheet metal made to take the place of the washer b that is usedin the form of knob-frame exhibited in figures previously described. In this style of construction the half-shell 0 may be joined by a loose half -shell, 0, (shown in Fig. 14,) that is centrally perforated to permit it to be adjusted in place upon the spindle A and be affixed to the half-shell O to form a complete jacket or re-enforce for the frame. This method of making the knobs is preferred when light sheet-metal outer knob-shells, C are used to form a finished surface for the knobs, and by the use of the re-enforceinner shell formed by the two half-shells the outer covering, 0 is protected fromindention or injury that might otherwise result from a contact of the knob with any hard substance.

In Fig. 15 a modification of the knob-frame is shown. In this form the prongs a are cut off to hook into properly-spaced slots made near the edge of half-shell O, that in this case is not perforated at its center. The skeleton half of the knob-frame may have a loose halfshell, 0, (shown in Fig. 14,) placed upon it and secured with its edge in any proper and convenient manner, and in this way re-enforce the outer thin finishing-envelope, C the same as is effected by the style shown in Figs. 13 and 14.

In Fig. 16 I show a manner of utilizing a solid shank, if it is preferred, as a spindle in place of the hollow sheet-metal spindle previously described. To do this it is simply necessary to use two loose knobs similar to those shown in the previous figures and attach them by set-screws to the shank D.

It should be explained that in all the forms of the adjustable knobs herein shown the socket-pieces are provided with filling-pieces, as are also the outer sockets of the knobs that are built upon the integral skeleton frame at the opposite end of the spindle, and the socket-pieces of the adjustable knobs are furnished with set-screws to fixedly secure these loose knobs in proper position, the close fitand long bearing afforded by the sheet-metalsockets of these loose knobs insuring a security of adjustment not attainable by ordinary methods of manufacture.

Having fullydesoribed myinvention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A sheet-metal spindle and an integral skeleton knob-frame, substantially as set forth.

2. A knob consisting,essentially, of askeleton frame having an integral spindlesocket and a shell secured to said frame, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a hollow sheet metal spindle and its integral skeleton knobframe, of an adjustable knob-frame and its integral socket, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with a sheet-metal hollow spindle and its integral pronged skeleton knob-frame, of a re-enl'orce shell adapted to be held in contact with the skeleton knob-frame, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a hollow spindle made of sheet-metal sections and joined longitudinally, of prongs integral with the spindle-sections and adapted to form a skeleton knob-frame, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with a hollow sheetmetal spindle, a skeleton knob-frame made integral with this spindle, and re-enforce shells adapted to fit on the skeleton knob-frame, of an outer finishing-shell that is secured upon the re-enforce jacket or shell, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with a hollow sheetmetal spindle and integral prongs that are locked at their outer ends to produce a stable knob-frame, of an outer finishing-shell that is mounted upon and secured to the skeleton knob-frame, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE.

Witnesses:

GEO. F. DOWNING, B. S. FERGUSON. 

